360 Goalkeeper Glove Spin

Description:Animated and cut-out spin displayed against a bespoke background

About WarbyGK

Whether it was a freezing friday or a scorching saturday, you would often find coach Bob Warby out on the training ground putting his students through their paces. But it wasn’t just the players’ techniques Bob would be scrutinising. He’d also have a keen eye on how their gloves stood up to rigorous training sessions. That’s before ex-goalkeeper coach Bob became the founder and managing director of specialist goalkeeper glove brand WarbyGK.

Whilst working as a coach with teams such as Grimsby Town, Boston United and a host of private clients, Bob identified a gap in a market which also involved his passion of goalkeeping. As one of the first independent goalkeeper glove brands to the market his vision has been rewarded with year on year growth and an ever increasing ‘family’ of professional goalkeepers.

But what does it take to bring a new glove to market? Historically goalkeeper gloves are a relatively modern invention. Their materials have progressed from wool through to dimpled ‘table tennis’ rubber and onto highly advanced latex which is in use today. Modern gloves incorporate innovations including chemically injected latex palms, double Velcro wrist closures and both finger and thumb protection spines – a far cry from the pair of wooly gloves your nan knitted.

“The grip is the most important aspect of any glove” says Bob. “All of our designs must function around compatibility with the palm latex. Once that is as good as it can be you can create your backhand design and incorporate any other features such as finger protection and secure fastening”.

Once the materials have been sourced and the technical specifications confirmed, the visual elements such as colour and design can be worked on. FA directives limit the size of brand logos on goalkeeper gloves but they can still be used to raise brand awareness. The design process can take many weeks before progressing to a production sample. Only then will you be able to test whether the ideas on the drawing board work in real life.

As with any retail market place, it is very hard to be ‘unique’ so instead Bob simply aims to make WarbyGK products better. That goes for every element of the business too, from designs, materials and packaging through to speed of despatch and customer service. “With anything I attempt, my aim is to do the best I can” says Bob, “I have old fashioned views on retail, and I believe our customer service is second to none – you don’t just buy from WarbyGK, you buy ‘into’ WarbyGK”. Bob ensures his message is evident in all his marketing activities from the WarbyGK website to other media such as Twitter and Facebook.

I’d recommend all online retailers to go this route to display their productsBob Warby

When the website was redesigned we included a host of features to make the shopping experience easier. One feature which received very positive feedback was the addition of 360 product spins. “I wanted my customers to be able to properly see what they are buying before deciding whether or not to try out this ‘unknown’ brand” says Bob. “I like us to be market leaders where possible, and I thought that if I was shopping, what would help me to decide? The answer was found via a business forum where I was put in touch with Swiftspin”.

The Swiftspin team recommended animated 360 spins which included movement to show how the glove moves with the hand. Bob agreed that animation would offer much more than a regular spin. “Our customers have really appreciated being able to see the gloves properly, and the animation has complemented our philosophy of trying new things. But the best feedback I received was indirectly from one of our closest competitors, when they commissioned Swiftspin to photograph their range as well! Overall I’d recommend all online retailers to go this route to display their products”.

One of the highlights of Bob’s success so far is being able to supply gloves to his boyhood hero, Neville Southall MBE, who he describes as “arguably the best goalkeeper ever to have played the beautiful game!”. On the other hand Bob says he is still kicking himself for not storing the number of a young Ben Foster who he was coaching before he went on to play for Manchester United and England. “The business was not even thought of at the time we worked together so I never even thought about it” he says. “It would be great to have an England international as a WarbyGK endorsee!”. But who knows? Perhaps one of Bob’s young crop of goalkeepers from the lower leagues will go on to play at the highest level, and continue to help promote this exciting brand.

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Meet the Swiftspin team

Terry is the founder and managing director of Swiftspin Limited. Before that he ran a graphic design and advertising agency. He lists playing the guitar, classic motorcyces and collecting british war comics amongst his hobbies (although he likes to keep that last one quiet). He's currently being dragged to salsa dance lessons by his wife and can often be seen practicing his moves in the studio.

Pete is Swiftspin’s head of photography. A father of two, Pete is a very keen sportsman and enjoys canoeing and cycling in his spare time. For many years he has competed in the unusual event of poleclimbing and is the current European senior champion. Pete is also a karate instructor and can regularly be found practicing his moves in the studio. N.B. Terry's salsa and Pete's karate don't mix...

Swiftspin started the '360 revolution' in 2007 and are leaders in 360 product spin photography. Our techniques are used by photographic studios throughout the world. Located near the beautiful Roman city of Bath in the UK our studio boasts twelve turntables capable of spinning anything from a Microchip to a King size bed.